The “Chandelier” singer appeared on “The Sunday Project” in Australia to explain the reasoning behind her casting choice. Ziegler will play Music, a teenage girl with autism who ends up living with her drug-trafficking sister Zu, played by Kate Hudson.
“I realized I wasn’t capable, I mean she’s capable too, but it’s actually nepotism because I can’t do a project without her. I don’t want to. I wouldn’t make art if I didn’t include her,” Sia said.
The singer had faced reactions from some members of the autistic community, with people saying she should have cast someone who really belonged to the autism spectrum instead of Ziegler, who has appeared in Sia’s music videos .
Ziegler had been afraid to remove the piece, Sia added, but said he nailed the paper in the trials according to medical experts.
“She cried the first day of rehearsals and got really scared and said,‘ I don’t want anyone to think I’m making fun of them. ’I said with a brave face,‘ I’m not going to let this happen, ’” Sia said.
“Last week I realized I couldn’t really protect her from that, which I thought I could,” Sia added. “We sent it to the Child Mind Institute and it received 100% performance accuracy. I realize there are some things I can’t protect it from as much as I try.”